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Pennington HPC to revise ordinances after New Jersey Historic Preservation Office feedback
Summary
The commission reviewed emailed feedback from the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office recommending specific ordinance changes — including limits on archaeology language, defining emergency repairs, aligning Certificate of Appropriateness procedures with the Municipal Land Use Law, and adjusting Class C membership — and agreed to implement the suggested updates.
At the March 17, 2026 meeting the Pennington Borough Historic Preservation Commission reviewed feedback sent by Cassidy Deegan of the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office as part of the Certified Local Government review.
Deegan’s email recommended that the HPC remove archaeological language from the local ordinance unless the commission has in-house archaeological expertise or a committed consultant, add a definition for “Emergency Repairs,” use the term “landmark” in the ordinance, align the Certificate of Appropriateness procedure with the Municipal Land Use Law so that the Administrative Officer issues the certificate, and set class C membership to four members. Chair Eric Holtermann led the commission through the suggested edits and noted that the historic district zoning overlay is being addressed in the Land Use element of the Master Plan.
The commission agreed to implement the state office’s recommendations in the ordinance revisions; the minutes do not record a formal vote on specific ordinance language during this meeting. Meeting materials and the full feedback packet were archived in the meeting materials link referenced in the minutes.
